Calculus
by Mr Makulu
Summary: When Artemis finds herself havong trouble with a school subject shegets help from an unexpected source.


**Author's Note: Here is day 11 of my writers Challenge. This was another one of those small ideas that I couldn't get out of my head so I just had to see it written down.**

Artemis looked at the test result that the teacher placed on her desk. Silently greeting the big read F as it yet again graced her presence.

"And another one bites the dust, Miss Crock." Mr Kowalski said. "Look I know that if you keep something in its wrapper it will eventually become a collectable but trust me when I say that your text book will be worth a lot more to you if you actually read it."

Needless to say she left the class at the end of the period with a dark cloud overhead, muttering angrily to herself.

"Stupid teacher...stupid class... stupid school..." Artemis walked past the Trophy case. "...Stupid overachievers."

When she finally got home she let out a sigh relief as she reached her apartment door. As bad as her day had been at least for the next two days she didn't even have to think about calculus.

She opened the door and was greeted by her mum who was waiting for her. "Your Teacher called."

_Mr Kowalski, you are a dead man._

(break)

It had taken something convincing but Artemis's mum had allowed her to go hang out at Mount Justice on Saturday provided she promised to spend some of that time studying for the Calculus test that was coming next Friday. So now while the rest were off getting groceries, she was stuck here at the kitchen table, going one-on-one with the text book. Right now the text book was winning.

"Argh!" Artemis let out a frustrated groan. "It's bad enough they make us go to school now they also take away our weekends!"

"Yeah school is like that."

Artemis jumped at the sound of Robin's voice. She looked up to see that the Boy Wonder had seemingly materialised into the kitchen.

"I thought you went grocery shopping with the others."

"Nah, some of the computer systems needed a reboot so I decided to take care of it. Right now I'm just on a Soda break while I wait for them to restart."

Robin walked over to the fridge. Artemis, in a state of mind that could only be brought on by an over-exposure to Calculus, turned to her youngest teammate, an idea brewing in her mind. "Listen, Robin..."

"I'm not gonna help you cheat on a calculus test." He turned to see Artemis gaping at him. "I saw the text book on the way in plus the broken pencils, crumpled up pieces and the agitated Artemis noises were a sign that you were ready to give up on learning it so I assumed that would be the reason for you approaching the team mate skilled in hacking, stealth and information extraction."

Artemis glared at him for a moment. "I get it, you're a detective. No need to be a smug prick about it."

"I know, I just enjoy it." Robin replied cheekily as he opened his soda. "So... teacher giving you a hard time?"

Artemis, looking for an excuse to do anything that isn't maths, suddenly found herself feeling rather talkative. "He is the biggest jerk I've ever met. Not only is he on my case because I don't spend my nights lovingly cradling a text book and a calculator, he actually had the school ring my mum..."

"They got you where you live." Robin muttered. "That is low."

"...So now the stupid prep school, that I didn't even want to go to, is unhappy because of I'm failing calculus. I mean seriously, who actually uses calculus?"

"You mean aside from scientists, statisticians, engineers, economists, businessmen, doctors and anyone in fields where problems can be mathematically modelled and an optimal solution is desired." Robin effortlessly caught the textbook that flew in at his face. "You know throwing the book at me isn't going to make learning it any easier."

"But it makes me feel a lot better."

There was a moment of silence before Robin spoke up. "You know Batman taught me a lot of things to help fight crime, computers, criminology, chemisty etc... so naturally I did better at the relevant subject's school."

"Naturally." Artemis replied, not seeing why the brat was taking the time to gloat.

"And then he got on my case because I was failing English. He threatened to bench me if I didn't start to show an improvement."

That got Artemis's attention. "He threatened to bench you over English?"

"Yep." Actually it had been Alfred who was more disturbed about the failing grade but for the sake of this story everything was Batman. "He said that English didn't have to be my strong point but at the very least I had to bring home passing grades in every subject."

"But why?" Artemis asked. "Wouldn't he want you to focus all your time on crime fighting?"

"No, he knows if you spent all your time focusing on crime fighting it would do your head in." Now if only he took his advice once in a while. "But more than that he wants me to be a crime fighter because I want to be a crime fighter, not because it's the only bridge I haven't burnt yet."

Artemis processed that as Robin flipped through the text book briefly, checking to see if it was one he was familiar with. When he was done with that he took out a fresh sheet of paper. "Alright Artemis, right now you're just going around in circles. I think what we should do is go right back to the basics and work up from there."

Artemis tilted her head slightly. "We?"

"Yes, 'we'. You're lucky that Maths is kind of a strong point for me but I'm going to need you to pay attention."

"...but why would you waste your time trying to help me learn this?"

Robin shrugged slightly. "We're a team, that's how it works." He then developed a sly grin. "Besides, if your mum stops you from being part of the team because you're failing Calculus, who's gonna keep Wally in his place?"

(break)

Artemis resisted the urge to do a celebratory fist-pump when the next time Mr Kowalski placed a test result in front of her it had a 'B+' written on it.

"Well, Miss Crock, I must say that I am pleasantly surprised."

"Yeah well I found myself a good tutor."

"Good? No Miss Crock, that tutor of yours is nothing short of a miracle worker."

(break)

Artemis walked down the hallway her head held a little higher than usual. Sure she still felt that calculus was a complete was of her time but she had to admit that it was going to feel pretty good to take that 'B+' home to her mum. She really did owe Robin big time.

She walked past the trophy case and promptly stopped when something caught her eye. It was a picture of a dark-haired boy holding up a trophy that looked like it was almost as big as he was. She then noticed the writing on the bottom."

_2011 Gotham Academy_

_Mathlete honouree_

_Dick Grayson_

She stared at the photo for a moment longer as she tried to process what she was seeing.

"You mean they actually give out trophies for _maths_?" She muttered to herself as she walked off. "Weird."


End file.
